This year in my science classroom students became very familiar with the use of technology. Students were able to explore different types of technology and develop and create projects in order to demonstrate their knowledge of content. Using a cross-curricular unit with social studies called “See the USA” students traveled across the country in teams and blogged about landscapes along each leg of the journey. As a summative assessment in science class, student also created Glogs in the Earth systems unit, and individual web-pages in the chemistry unit. I have enjoyed exploring new use of technology with my students, as well as watching their curiosities bloom using different web-tools.
During my lesson and unit plans, I was able to use several different technologies to incorporate into my projects and ideas. I found that the best way to communicate information to my students was to totally engage them in technology that was fun and challenging for them to use. Below are my summaries and explanations of each lesson and unit plan that I have enjoyed with my students this year.
See the USA - Unit Plan (Trimester 2-3) This unit was incorporated into the Earth Systems unit in science, and was used as a cross-curricular activity with the social studies classes. During this project students designed their own edublogs in teams as they traveled across the country. Each week, students updated their blogs in science class.
While students studied cultures and places in social studies, they observed land formations in science. Each week students were given a travel update in science where they were instructed to answer questions about various states of travel on their blogs. Using my website, http://santorosciencerocks.pbworks.com/, students researched and observed landscapes of the states that they traveled through each week. As students traveled from the west coast to the east coast, they were able to observe the change of landscapes and the different ways that weathering, erosion, and deposition played a part in the unique land formations in different parts of the country.
As we moved through the Earth Systems unit, students were given various vocabulary words to define and land features to identify on their weekly blogs. When we reached the chemistry unit students were instructed to answer questions on the blog posts each week. Students were given adequate time to complete this unit project in class, however, there were several students that went above and beyond in their blog posts and chose to work on this project outside of school where they had more time to expand on their landscape explanations. On the other hand, there were some students who needed extra time on this project. These students took advantage of extra time in lab before and after school, as well as during lunchtime to complete this project.
Altogether, really enjoyed watching this project develop and observe the creativity of my students. It was interesting to read their blogs each week, and compare their very first blog entry to their reflection entry at the end of the unit. For many students, the blogs became much more developed and comprehensive as we moved through the project. I found that this was a very engaging activity and students seemed to love creating blogs and researching different parts of the country. This was a challenging activity for most students since most of the information and skills were new to them. However, it engaged and pulled kids out of the regular classroom and intrigued their learning with technology, which is part of their 21st century learning skills, and will develop further as they get older.
Earth Systems Glogster - Lesson Plan (Trimester 2-3) At the end of the Earth Systems unit, students were instructed to create a project to incorporate a list of vocabulary terms and concepts that they learned during the unit. Instead of using a traditional approach to an end of unit project such as a poster or essay, I chose to create Glogs with my students.
Using my own Glogster account, I created individual Glogster accounts for my students as well as an example Glog for the students to use. They were each given a rubric to follow to create their individual Glogs. I found this to be much more efficient use of time instead of creating a poster project. The Glogs turned out to be extremely creative, and incorporated each one of their personalities in pictures, figures, colors, animations, and explanations.
As we learned how to use the Glogs together, my students wound up teaching me. They taught me how to embed videos and animated pictures into their posts. This project proved to be a great, interactive way for students to summarize their learning for this Earth Systems unit. I see myself using this type of technology more frequently in my future teaching.
Adopt an Element – Lesson Plan (Trimester 3) This lesson plan was used in the middle of the chemistry unit, were students were assigned an element on the periodic table, and created their own web pages, atomic poster, and 3-dimentional atomic models to illustrate information that they researched about their element. Using my website, http://santorosciencerocks.pbworks.com/, students created their own web pages by researching information about their element. Before introducing this project, students became familiar with chemical vocabulary words and formulas that they later needed to use for the research project.
As we worked on this project, students were given a template to use as a rubric. Depending on each students ability level, modifications, alterations, and extensions were made. Several students enjoyed developing a 3-dimentional model of their atoms at the end of the unit. I felt that they learned a lot, not only about chemistry, but also about developing their own web-page. Students also learned a lot about internet safety during this project. They were given several websites to use to find research, and we had many discussions in each class about safety precautions to take when researching online.
This project proved to be an excellent assessment of knowledge of content and tech-elated tools. Students had to navigate around websites in order to pull out information for their web-pages, as well as deliver appropriate explanations for their individual element. I enjoyed watching my students explore and enrich their thinking with each research step.
Literature Review
Throughout the course of this school year several E2T2 meetings where held in which I became very familiar with technology based tools that prompted curiosity and creativity in my classroom. This year students in my science classroom have become extremely familiar with the use of technology. Using various web-based tools, students were able to develop and create ideas and projects using 21st century learning skills. Students used specific tools for various projects and criteria. In science, students created edublogs, glogs and web-pages on the http://santorosciencerocks.pbworks.com/w/page/31756322/Santoro-Science-Rocks! web-page.
I enjoyed teaching my students about the proper use of these technologies as well as learning what these technology’s had to offer before presenting them to my students. Together, my students and I grew in our interactions within technology. I found that I became the model for my students instead of the presenter of information and content. I will definitely use these technology tools again in the future because I believe that they are great tools for creativity and assessment.
1.Which elements discussed in this book did you find most useful if any? Why? What? Factors made this strategy or concept powerful for you?
Students today, are learning in much more complex ways then children did ten years ago. According to Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss, authors of the book Reinventing Project-Based Learning, “project based learning is a strategy to turn traditional classrooms upside down where students are engaged in real-world projects and the teacher is no longer the expert (Boss, 11).” I found this statement helpful in creating projects for my students where they became the creators, and I became the facilitator. I also noticed, that students took more control and accountability for their assignments since they felt they had more ownership in creating their work.
2.Did the content of this book change any aspects of your educational philosophy? Why?
I can’t necessarily say that this book changed the aspects of my educational philosophy, however, it changed the way I have implemented parts of my teaching. My teaching philosophy is to create a community where students strive to be successful and have a passion to learn. This book has given me great ideas in ways to implement my teaching by creating web-based projects where my students felt that they were creators. I enjoyed watching my students’ explore different technology tools, and become successful in their use. I found that most students were successful in the assessments because they enjoyed creating them.
3.What elements of this book did you find insufficient of left you in need of more information?
Chapter five talks about project management and time lines for projects. This was a struggle for me throughout the unit plan because it wound up taking students a long time to become familiar with their edublogs. The “See the USA” project wound up taking a longer time then I had hoped for. I wish that this book gave more insight on time lines for technology-based projects.
I also found that chapter eight: Building Connections and Branching Out, was insufficient for my teaching because I wasn’t able to use digital storytelling or digital consulting in my content areas. There is so much curriculum to cover in a year’s time, and not enough time to do all of the projects that I would have liked to. Even though consulting experts online for research may be beneficial, I was not able to fit this into my content, nor did I have the time too.
4.Did the content of this book help you have an increased impact on your students’ learning? How?
When I first began the “See the USA” project as a collaborative unit with social studies I found there had to be a lot of teamwork between the two teachers. As a team of teachers, we had to agree on goals for our students, and create collaborative lessons for students to reach those goals. Just as stated in the book Reinventing Project-Based Learning, teachers become better acquainted during weeks of planning leading up to the project launch, and work in contexts that emphasize rigorous academics while allowing room for innovation (Boss, 29). I found that this is exactly what we did. We came up with a rigorous project plan and let our students’ curiosities bloom as they completed each assessment along the way. Students became very capable of leading their own projects and developing content within their projects that was characteristic of their leaning styles and knowledge base (Boss, 136). I will use these technology tools in the near future because they were very beneficial in student achievement and success in my classroom.
Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print
E2T2 Portfolio Page for Stacie Santoro
Summary
This year in my science classroom students became very familiar with the use of technology. Students were able to explore different types of technology and develop and create projects in order to demonstrate their knowledge of content. Using a cross-curricular unit with social studies called “See the USA” students traveled across the country in teams and blogged about landscapes along each leg of the journey. As a summative assessment in science class, student also created Glogs in the Earth systems unit, and individual web-pages in the chemistry unit. I have enjoyed exploring new use of technology with my students, as well as watching their curiosities bloom using different web-tools.Shared Lessons, Units, and Resources
Glogster Directions on Website
My Glogster Account
Adopt an Element Research Websites
Blog Entries
*Welcome to Success!*My Weekly Blogs
My Sweet Science Website
Student Work Samples
See the USA - Unit PlanCarly D
Team 24
Team 23
Carly's Weekly Blogs
Team 24 Weekly Blogs
Team 23's Weekly Blogs
Santoro Science Rocks - See the USA and Adopt an Element - Unit/Lesson plans
Yanci R
Davis B
Glogster - Lesson Plan
Summative Narrative
2nd and 3rd Trimester Unit and LessonsDuring my lesson and unit plans, I was able to use several different technologies to incorporate into my projects and ideas. I found that the best way to communicate information to my students was to totally engage them in technology that was fun and challenging for them to use. Below are my summaries and explanations of each lesson and unit plan that I have enjoyed with my students this year.
See the USA - Unit Plan (Trimester 2-3)
This unit was incorporated into the Earth Systems unit in science, and was used as a cross-curricular activity with the social studies classes. During this project students designed their own edublogs in teams as they traveled across the country. Each week, students updated their blogs in science class.
While students studied cultures and places in social studies, they observed land formations in science. Each week students were given a travel update in science where they were instructed to answer questions about various states of travel on their blogs. Using my website, http://santorosciencerocks.pbworks.com/, students researched and observed landscapes of the states that they traveled through each week. As students traveled from the west coast to the east coast, they were able to observe the change of landscapes and the different ways that weathering, erosion, and deposition played a part in the unique land formations in different parts of the country.
As we moved through the Earth Systems unit, students were given various vocabulary words to define and land features to identify on their weekly blogs. When we reached the chemistry unit students were instructed to answer questions on the blog posts each week. Students were given adequate time to complete this unit project in class, however, there were several students that went above and beyond in their blog posts and chose to work on this project outside of school where they had more time to expand on their landscape explanations. On the other hand, there were some students who needed extra time on this project. These students took advantage of extra time in lab before and after school, as well as during lunchtime to complete this project.
Altogether, really enjoyed watching this project develop and observe the creativity of my students. It was interesting to read their blogs each week, and compare their very first blog entry to their reflection entry at the end of the unit. For many students, the blogs became much more developed and comprehensive as we moved through the project. I found that this was a very engaging activity and students seemed to love creating blogs and researching different parts of the country. This was a challenging activity for most students since most of the information and skills were new to them. However, it engaged and pulled kids out of the regular classroom and intrigued their learning with technology, which is part of their 21st century learning skills, and will develop further as they get older.
Earth Systems Glogster - Lesson Plan (Trimester 2-3)
At the end of the Earth Systems unit, students were instructed to create a project to incorporate a list of vocabulary terms and concepts that they learned during the unit. Instead of using a traditional approach to an end of unit project such as a poster or essay, I chose to create Glogs with my students.
Using my own Glogster account, I created individual Glogster accounts for my students as well as an example Glog for the students to use. They were each given a rubric to follow to create their individual Glogs. I found this to be much more efficient use of time instead of creating a poster project. The Glogs turned out to be extremely creative, and incorporated each one of their personalities in pictures, figures, colors, animations, and explanations.
As we learned how to use the Glogs together, my students wound up teaching me. They taught me how to embed videos and animated pictures into their posts. This project proved to be a great, interactive way for students to summarize their learning for this Earth Systems unit. I see myself using this type of technology more frequently in my future teaching.
Adopt an Element – Lesson Plan (Trimester 3)
This lesson plan was used in the middle of the chemistry unit, were students were assigned an element on the periodic table, and created their own web pages, atomic poster, and 3-dimentional atomic models to illustrate information that they researched about their element. Using my website, http://santorosciencerocks.pbworks.com/, students created their own web pages by researching information about their element. Before introducing this project, students became familiar with chemical vocabulary words and formulas that they later needed to use for the research project.
As we worked on this project, students were given a template to use as a rubric. Depending on each students ability level, modifications, alterations, and extensions were made. Several students enjoyed developing a 3-dimentional model of their atoms at the end of the unit. I felt that they learned a lot, not only about chemistry, but also about developing their own web-page. Students also learned a lot about internet safety during this project. They were given several websites to use to find research, and we had many discussions in each class about safety precautions to take when researching online.
This project proved to be an excellent assessment of knowledge of content and tech-elated tools. Students had to navigate around websites in order to pull out information for their web-pages, as well as deliver appropriate explanations for their individual element. I enjoyed watching my students explore and enrich their thinking with each research step.
Literature Review
Throughout the course of this school year several E2T2 meetings where held in which I became very familiar with technology based tools that prompted curiosity and creativity in my classroom. This year students in my science classroom have become extremely familiar with the use of technology. Using various web-based tools, students were able to develop and create ideas and projects using 21st century learning skills. Students used specific tools for various projects and criteria. In science, students created edublogs, glogs and web-pages on the http://santorosciencerocks.pbworks.com/w/page/31756322/Santoro-Science-Rocks! web-page.
I enjoyed teaching my students about the proper use of these technologies as well as learning what these technology’s had to offer before presenting them to my students. Together, my students and I grew in our interactions within technology. I found that I became the model for my students instead of the presenter of information and content. I will definitely use these technology tools again in the future because I believe that they are great tools for creativity and assessment.
- 1. Which elements discussed in this book did you find most useful if any? Why? What? Factors made this strategy or concept powerful for you?
Students today, are learning in much more complex ways then children did ten years ago. According to Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss, authors of the book Reinventing Project-Based Learning, “project based learning is a strategy to turn traditional classrooms upside down where students are engaged in real-world projects and the teacher is no longer the expert (Boss, 11).” I found this statement helpful in creating projects for my students where they became the creators, and I became the facilitator. I also noticed, that students took more control and accountability for their assignments since they felt they had more ownership in creating their work.- 2. Did the content of this book change any aspects of your educational philosophy? Why?
I can’t necessarily say that this book changed the aspects of my educational philosophy, however, it changed the way I have implemented parts of my teaching. My teaching philosophy is to create a community where students strive to be successful and have a passion to learn. This book has given me great ideas in ways to implement my teaching by creating web-based projects where my students felt that they were creators. I enjoyed watching my students’ explore different technology tools, and become successful in their use. I found that most students were successful in the assessments because they enjoyed creating them.- 3. What elements of this book did you find insufficient of left you in need of more information?
Chapter five talks about project management and time lines for projects. This was a struggle for me throughout the unit plan because it wound up taking students a long time to become familiar with their edublogs. The “See the USA” project wound up taking a longer time then I had hoped for. I wish that this book gave more insight on time lines for technology-based projects.I also found that chapter eight: Building Connections and Branching Out, was insufficient for my teaching because I wasn’t able to use digital storytelling or digital consulting in my content areas. There is so much curriculum to cover in a year’s time, and not enough time to do all of the projects that I would have liked to. Even though consulting experts online for research may be beneficial, I was not able to fit this into my content, nor did I have the time too.
- 4. Did the content of this book help you have an increased impact on your students’ learning? How?
When I first began the “See the USA” project as a collaborative unit with social studies I found there had to be a lot of teamwork between the two teachers. As a team of teachers, we had to agree on goals for our students, and create collaborative lessons for students to reach those goals. Just as stated in the book Reinventing Project-Based Learning, teachers become better acquainted during weeks of planning leading up to the project launch, and work in contexts that emphasize rigorous academics while allowing room for innovation (Boss, 29). I found that this is exactly what we did. We came up with a rigorous project plan and let our students’ curiosities bloom as they completed each assessment along the way. Students became very capable of leading their own projects and developing content within their projects that was characteristic of their leaning styles and knowledge base (Boss, 136). I will use these technology tools in the near future because they were very beneficial in student achievement and success in my classroom.Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to
Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print